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Winds of Change
Winds of Change refers to an incident wherein a pandaren by the name of Han Stormpaw sought to convince, and finally coerce, the pandaren race to return to the continent of Pandaria. Background During the incident referred to as the "Dead Hand Protocol", a pandaren monk named Han Stormpaw made an error while cleaning up some saronite slag and inhaled metal filings. From that moment forward, he became obsessed with locating his sister, Yujie, who had gone abroad in the world to see what it offered. Immediately after the defeat of Maelydra Firestar, he received a clue about Yuije's whereabouts. Following it, he discovered a trappers' camp. Believing her slain by them and her skin taken to be sold, he lost control of his powers and destroyed the camp, slaying all within. See the end credits stingers for Dead Hand Protocol and Scorched Earth Policy for the tales. The Campaign See the Player's Guide. Phase One (October 25 through November 2) October 25: Greyshields The Greyshields accepted a contract from Han Stormpaw to enter the Noxious Lair’s centipaar hive to retrieve a resonating crystal. This relic of the War of the Shifting Sands was unearthed by a fel reaver collapsing the hive during Operation: Worldbreaker in January, and the Greyshields were told that it would be invaluable in researching the Old Gods. The dangerous mission was ably carried out, with the help of a shadow priest using the crystal to subdue the centipaar. October 28: Knights of Solidarity and Iscariot Legion Attacks against pandaren in major cities suddenly escalated; seemingly random muggings and beatings, some culminating in the pandaren being branded, occurred almost at the same time all around the world. The Knights of Solidarity encountered one of these bands of thugs, defeated them, and recovered an arcane-powered brand that they were carrying. Scrying the brand gave a glimpse of a dark-furred pandaren involved with the attacks… That same night, a dark-furred pandaren was sighted by the Iscariot Legion in Northrend, as they fought to defend Star’s Rest from undead forces. He evaded their notice while they fought, dropped into the crater the Blue Dragonflight had excavated years ago, and located a strange artifact. This artifact he turned on the Iscariot Legion’s forces, paralyzing them with fear, and fled. October 29: Phantom Legion The Phantom Legion was next to encounter the pandaren, this time in Silithus. As they gathered azerite, right under the Horde’s collective nose, they spotted him attempting to enter the Temple of Ahn’Qiraj, and intercepted him. He promised them they could have any azerite in the Temple, in exchange for his continuing freedom. However, there he found another item connected with the Old Gods, and when the Phantom Legion attacked him, he used it to escape once more. After too many such encounters, Alliance Command issued the following notice: November 1: Pyrebird Sodality Acting upon this bounty, the Pyrebird Sodality located the pandaren through their network of contacts. He had traveled to a small fishing village in Stormsong Valley, and according to the harbormaster, had been engaged in diving into the bay since his arrival. Finally locating what he had apparently been seeking, the pandaren attempted to take a chartered submarine, piloted by goblins whom he somehow mind-controlled into not asking questions. The Sodality mercenaries attempted to intercept him, but only wounded and hamstrung him; he escaped, to Pandaria, according to the submarine’s itinerary. November 2: Storm Glaive On a completely unrelated mission, the crew of the Storm Glaive arrived at the private farm of Captain Tyrnathera Stormseeker to gather money and valuables to pay mercenaries for the Darkshore conflict. A passing neighbor informed them of a pandaren who was a victim of the terrible attacks, and goblins in the marketplace in Halfhill who were buying up valuable merchandise; the Storm Glaive decided to investigate. There, they discovered that the goblins had themselves had a brush with Han Stormpaw, and that Stormpaw had been their passenger to Sri-La Village. Aldorae, separately, learned that the brutalized pandaren victim now had no desire to leave Pandaria again, and many others here were becoming disaffected with the wider world. After setting up a magical ward to protect Halfhill from Stormpaw’s influence, they brought this information to Jeremaias Auromere. Interlude (November 3) Armed with this new knowledge, Auromere, under his authority as a marshal and as a magistrate, issued a call to arms. Those parties willing to assist in the thwarting and capture of Stormpaw would gather together, and as a coalition, bring an end to his deadly journey. Phase Two (November 4 through 14) November 4: Sri-La Village The coalition forces gathered in Sri-La Village on November 4, and discovered that Stormpaw’s passage continued to influence the fishing community, plunging the pandaren into despair and lethargy. They discovered a knot of Void magic in the inn, but when Parthilan attempted to dispose of it, sha-like creatures emerged all around the village. Once the knot was undone, the creatures were vanquished, and a memory played itself out in the inn: Han Stormpaw arrived with the goblins whose minds he had controlled, and released them upon meeting with a group of humans he had previously hired. The humans demanded payment for “services rendered”, which seemed to include harassing pandaren elsewhere in the world, and harassing non-pandaren in Pandaria. When Stormpaw indicated that he could not pay, they attacked him, and the memory ended with him unleashing his terrible powers. “West” was the only direction the villagers could offer--so west the coalition would go, with some searching Tian Monastery that night. November 5: The Arboretum The coalition journeyed toward Dawn’s Blossom, the next logical step in Stormpaw’s flight. However, before they could arrive, they discovered trouble in the Arboretum: an influx of forest sprites, carrying a faint trace of Void energy, now wreaking havoc in the vast orchard. The coalition slew or drove out the offending sprites, sending them back in the direction of Greenstone Village, and when they were done, they were approached by Lorewalker Qiao, who made them an offer. He gave them a relic that he said was once used to suppress minor upwellings of sha energies, in the days of old. Now, with this new threat rising, it may yet again serve that purpose. But for the case of this new threat, it would require something more: the blessings of the Celestials. Thus, a second, smaller group would travel to the Celestials’ presence, and acquire this blessing by whatever means, while the main body would continue the pursuit, and hopefully halt Stormpaw’s pilgrimage of destruction… November 6: Greenstone Village The coalition’s success was twofold this night. The main party arrived in Greenstone Village to discover that Stormpaw’s influence had animated the very jade the people worked into angry elementals. When fought, these elementals merged into a single, massive jade golem--and then, unstable, split apart again. Fortunately, they were swiftly defeated, and revealed to be created not just by Stormpaw’s involvement, but a lingering spirit of bitterness and divisiveness. Meantime, Stormpaw was revealed to have traveled to Pang’s Stead in the Valley of the Four Winds, via a road that circles north of Dawn’s Blossom. November 6: Temple of the Jade Serpent A group of five visited the Temple of the Jade Serpent on the same evening. A monk who greeted them told them that to receive an audience with Yu’lon, they must solve a riddle, involving a series of chimes that must be sounded in a specific order. The answer to the riddle was within the Temple, she said; therefore, they entered the Temple and labored long to discover the solution. However, as they began to realize that the solution may be beyond their grasp, they began to ponder the nature of wisdom itself--and the monk arrived and revealed herself as Yu’lon. She was satisfied that they had learned her lesson: not that every problem can be solved with diligence, but that refusing to seek wisdom and acting in haste will result in failure. She not only infused the relic’s tone with this wisdom, but blessed the coalition. November 7: Journey to Pang's Stead The coalition traveled through the Jade Forest to Pang’s Stead. It seems that Stormpaw did not pass through this village on his way to his destination; there was no trace of him here. Scouts were sent forth into the Valley to see if they could find that trail. Lorewalker Qiao, meantime, shared a lesson on the history of the Jade Forest, speaking of the Gong of Hope, Twinspire Keep and the conflict with the Horde, and how the sha shaped the culture of Pandaria. November 8: The Pools of Purity The main force encountered a strange fungal infestation at the Pools, and fought against, strangely, a fungal giant that constantly divided when struck. After several attempts, they struck upon a solution to stop the division: transmuting the fungus into wood, and then shattering the creatures. Waterspeaker Sussha then used the waters to divine the locaton of Stormpaw: He had recently passed through the Veiled Stair, and the Tavern of the Mists. He is traveling north. November 8: Temple of the Red Crane Meanwhile, the secondary party met with Chi-Ji, who proposed them a puzzle to prove their understanding of hope. He took them to a fountain, from which a brass ring dangled by a ribbon; they must break the ribbon and drop the ring into the water, without using guns or magic. But the fountain was surrounded by an impenetrable forcefield. After many attempts, the party discovered that the forcefield only rose twenty feet in the air, and borrowed a javelin from nearby monks to throw and break the ribbon. Successful even in the face of all this resistance, Chi-Ji approved, and imbued their relic with this lesson, and the coalition with his blessing. November 9: Journey to the Tavern in the Mists The coalition had quite the climb ahead; gathering at the Grassy Cline, they struggled up the Hundred Steps--which were more than a hundred. During this journey, they learned about the history not only of the stairs, but of the mogu empire, the origins of the grummles and the jinyu, and the legacy the mogu inadvertently bestowed on the pandaren. Once at the Tavern in the Mists, they discovered that Stormpaw had been there, but not long enough to cause destruction on the order of past stops; instead, he had swiftly moved on to the north. A newly-added member of the coalition, Nemiria Shadowoak, attempted to pick a fight with one of the locals, only to find herself in a drinking duel. Once she could drink no more, she discovered that it was a tradition among the local ruffians, who now embraced her as one of them. The night passed pleasantly after that, for all of the coalition. November 10: The Ancient Passage (Coming soon!)Category:The Contrivance Category:Campaigns Category:Winds of Change Category:WIP